Teaching women of all ages and from every walk of life, how to be in tune with their menstrual cycles and how to use this knowledge to either prevent or facilitate pregnancy. Read, learn, feel empowered!

Monday, 9 May 2016

Part 1: How to come off hormonal contraceptives smoothly

For many women, making that decision to come off hormonal contraception can be a bit daunting. My patients who are considering it are always the ones that ask me the most questions concerning their health, so here is the low down. Whether you are ready or still trying to make the decision, these are your most commonly asked questions answered.

What are some of the common reasons women come off
hormonal contraception?

Side effects are
of course a big issue; these might be ones that you experience soon after
starting hormonal contraception, or they may have built up gradually over years as synthetic hormone levels disturb your body’s liver function.

Wanting to fall
pregnant.

Wanting to
rebalance your hormones and take back control of your health and your body.

Relationship concerns
such as poor sex-drive, feeling like the responsibility of contraception has
been on the woman for too long (and it is taking its toll on her
health).

What kind of changes might I expect?

This is hard to predict,
as everyone is unique; some changes will be welcome, while others are more
troublesome.

The most
annoying side effects usually occur if you had them to begin with and were
prescribed synthetic hormones to mask the problem. Examples include:

Acne

Period pain

Heavier bleeding

Headaches

Mildly annoying
side effects:

Your period just disappears! This is usually due to anovulatory cycles because the body has
forgotten how to ovulate and have a period.

Cervical mucus
is non-existent, or sometimes there is just a constant small amount.

Mood changes. This is particularly noticeable if your current synthetic hormones keep your
moods very steady. Naturally throughout the cycle mood will fluctuate in a
regular pattern, this may be strange for someone who has not felt it for a long
time.

Welcome changes
(just to name a few):

An increase in
sex drive

Breast changes
(usually less lumpy)

Less UTIs and
thrush

Better energy
and sleep

Weight loss

Will I have side effects from coming off my hormonal
contraception?

Whether you have side effects when coming off hormonal contraception depends greatly on your
health before you started taking them and your health now. Here are some
examples that tend to increase the chance that side effects may arise:

Starting
hormonal contraception at a young age before your reproductive system was yet
mature (this is usually before 18-20 years-old)

Being on
hormonal contraception for a long-time without a break

Poor health and
nutrition status currently

Never having fallen pregnant before going on hormonal contraception

How can I prevent these side effects?

There are plenty
of things you can do to prevent or minimise the occurrence of untoward effects
and I will be talking about these in detail next week in Part 2 of How to come off hormonal contraceptives
smoothly.